Miniature Couperi?

I don't want to step on anyone's classified ad again....but I've got to ask the couperi lovers here their thoughts on miniature Easterns.

I've felt that my '12 snakes were pretty small....they're both over five feet now, eating like mad, and growing very fast. I expect they'll both be way over six feet by their third birthday.

My '13 snakes, I got a bit younger....and they're both ~ 4 feet , both eating and growing like mad -- both longer than the '12 snakes were at the same age. These 2 will be seven feet by their third birthday

My oldest girl, just acquired a few months ago, is just about seven feet, and she's a seven year old.

But in the classifieds, I'm seeing full adult, six year old snakes for sale, and the girl's just 39 inches, and the boy's just 45"!!! And, like my oldest female, they're well past the "fast growth" of youth.

If we're to keep and breed this rare species, don't we owe it to couperi to allow them their fullest potential?? Isn't it somehow wrong to underfeed a snake so much that it only grows to half its normal size?

Please, feel free to disagree with me. I'm attaching a good study of wild couperi size vs. age

Yeah, I saw that add also. I think most keepers unfamiliar with indigos are unaware of their nutritional requirements. I feed the heck out of mine until they reach sexual maturity. Then I slow down. Actually, they slow themselves down. My 2011 male is 7+ feet long and has not eaten much since November. I am sure he will eat aggressively come Spring, but he sort of self regulates his input. My females are eating throughout the winter. Even my gravid one. I have a 6' female, 2012, who is gravid. She has always been huge, even for a baby she was big. She weighs about 6 lbs. Now that she is gravid, she only eats small food items. But lists of them!

"Lots of them"
Chris, you may want to get on FB and follow Drymarchon Enthusiasts page. Lots of good information and lots of great photos.

I thaw too many food animals, every week. But as you know, I have cats, too....and my oldest cat hangs out, begging for chicks, quail, rats and mice. And when the snakes have eaten everything I can entice them to eat, the 20 year old cat gets the rest. Hey, it's good for his old kidneys....all my cats live over 20 years..

I really suck at facebook, although I use it when I have to....

Hey, are you an Orianne Society member?

Yes. I am a member. And a contributor I think. At least I was in 2013.

By the way, watch out for quail. I have two snakes, that just plain decided they like quail. The big 7 year female ate a rat and a chick every meal beore she came to me,,,,and for her first three or four meals here....then I fed her a quail. Now, just like my '12 female, all she wants are quail, and I have to wrap rats in quail wings, or stuff in a chick while she's still "chewing"....

Maybe I'll meet you in South Georgia, at an Orianne event?

I'm attaching a picture of an Orianne girl I need to meet....yes, she's too young for me, but I don't know how old the picture is, do I?

Nice photo. That add to which you referred was posted in 2012.

Perhaps that's why people use cm for length........ Instead of feet and inches.... Triple digits get a better response?????.....visual confusion??????....... Olo.....anyone out know of a 5 to 6 foot female on the block????
Bob
2159066420

Hi Bob -- your excellent couperi reputation precedes you, I hope I'll get to meet you one day.

I bought John Michel's beautiful girl a couple months ago - she's just short of 7 ft.

I see that a guy named Matt, in Tennessee, is selling a 2012 girl at kingsnake. Of course, she wouldn't be ready for breeding for a while, but maybe Matt's girl would be of the size you're looking for? (My '12 girl is ~ 5 feet, but not for sale) I see that Matt's female is an excellent price, although he wants a Tennessee sale.

Chris
8082831705

Thanks....... I've had a few bad months in fact just released from a depression facility........ Had to liquidate my animals....... In a hurry..... I still have an excellent male..... Not my two girls are 17 and 16 years old...... Probably too old to go....... My wife did something with my hold backs that will probably result in our divorce........ But I'm wanting to get back in easterns ..... I had good luck and of course experience with FF&W......... Someday I'll publish that episode how someone who did nothing illegal.....but due to sloppy paperwork .......KEEP YOUR PAPER WORK IN ORDER...... Never know when the knock come......." Your name was implicated by " this guy"........ You know your snakes can be " held"..... While your permits are examined......ehhh.....they may come back with pathogens from the facility........ WHAT A NIGHTMARE"........ Oh the divorce was going to happen this depression episode just pub it on a back burner...... I know I'm rambling but....I feel really blue.......I'm 66 years old..... Think I got enough time to join Facebook?????........ I'll check on the other girl
Thanks for listening(reading)......
Bob